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Restoration Man not happy with Pathfinder Redux demolition men

7 March, 2013 | By Astragal

TV’s Restoration Man George Clarke has distanced himself from the latest Return of Pathfinder-style demolitions proposed for the Welsh Streets area of Liverpool

Last week housing association Plus Dane submitted a £15 million scheme designed by Arup and Triangle Architects which would see around 400 homes, mostly vacant terraced houses flattened and replaced with just 150 new homes.

Clarke, who delivered a 12-point Empty Homes Manifesto to the Government late last year and presented the Great British Property Scandal programme, had been in negotiations with Liverpool City Council and Plus Dane about the future of the streets and about ‘saving as many houses and possible’.

The demolition-heavy proposal which emerged was clearly not what Clarke had hoped for.

A spokesman was unequivocal about Clarke’s position. He told the AJ: ‘I must emphasise that George’s name cannot be attached to any endorsement of Plus Dane’s scheme.’

‘George will be writing a letter of objection to the proposed scheme.’

Director of Liverpool regeneration planning consultancy Share the City, Jonathan Brown said: ‘George is respected as a ‘restoration man’, not a demolition man, and he knows the Plus Dane Group scheme falls far short, both ethically and environmentally.

‘Hopefully his objection will prove decisive in slaying the Pathfinder dragon, which ministers promised had been put down, but we see continue to breath fire across inner Liverpool and elsewhere.

He added: ‘Of almost 500 homes and businesses in the clearance zone, Plus Dane’s ‘compromise’ proposal saves under 10 per cent. And perhaps worst of all, it blights the occupied and recently facelifted houses in Gwydir, Treborth, Pengwyrn and South Streets, of which less than one in five are boarded up. That goes directly against the Empty Homes Adviser’s recommendations to Ministers, leaving him with little option but to object.

‘Like George, I think that losing so many characterful properties to gain so few of such unremarkable design is a poor return on a decade of dereliction and £35m in grants from the HCA. I’m sure at times George must have felt he was being ‘shot by both sides’, but by following his professional conscience he’s refused to be pushed into tacit support for this damaging process. It would be great if architectural practices and design schools could now use the Welsh Streets as a live case study for alternative proposals such as those from Liverpool practice Constructive Thinking. Ken Perry, Plus Dane’s chief executive, should withdraw the demolition application and embrace a more enlightened alternative approach.

Comment from Triangle Architects:

‘We were delighted when George Clarke agreed to take part in our discussions on the proposals for the Welsh Streets. We really welcomed his input into our design decisions and were grateful to him for his assistance. Elements of the proposals were amended to incorporate his ideas and suggestions.

These are now the subject of the planning application under consideration. Empty homes in Liverpool are brought back into use whenever possible – indeed, nearly 80% of the terraced homes in the wider Princes Park neighbourhood have been retained and improved. However, it is vital that we listen and respond to what people want. We have been working with the local community for the past decade on these plans. The proposals we have put forward have been backed by over 70 percent of those who have taken part in consultation. It is a myth that the local community do not support the plans. Triangle Architects have designed these new homes to create much-needed new, affordable homes for the local community, built to the highest standards. They have been designed to be more energy efficient, costing less to run and maintain, while meeting the demand for more spacious homes. Also to correct your article: There are up to 262 new and refurbished properties proposed over the two phases with the demolition of 439 properties, and the scheme has a density of 44 dwellings/hectare.’

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